The western balkan region

The Western Balkan region ( Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia*, Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99), Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) experiences a range of different climates, influenced by its’ geographical location and topography. Significant geographical characteristics influencing the climate of the region are: the Mediterranean/Adriatic Sea, the Dinaric Alps, the Carpathian mountain chain, the Rodopi mountains and the Pannonia plain.

The coastal areas along the Adriatic Sea experience a temperate climate with hot, mostly dry summers. The mountain chain of the Dinaric Alps, with alpine climate in the higher regions, mark a change towards a colder climate without a dry season, which characterises most of the continental parts of the Western Balkan region. Regional differences in the climates of the continental part of the Western Balkan region do correspond with it’s topography: the higher mountain areas experience a fairly cold climate without dry season whereas the plain areas of eastern Croatia and along the Croatian/Bosnian border as well as northern Serbia do experience warmer climates (temperate climates and warmer (hot) summers). These areas are also the main agricultural areas in the region. The lower areas in Macedonia, on the other side, are characterised by an arid steppe climate (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Present day climates (1980 – 2016) of the ClimaProof project area according to the Köppen-Geiger classification on a 1km resolution according to (Beck, et al., 2018) (adapted) Table 1: (below) shows the Köppen-Geiger climate classification by (Peel, et al., 2007) and used by (Beck, et al., 2018)